New private train Kashi Mahakal Express has a reserved berth for Lord Shiva

The latest reports of seat no. 64 in Coach B5 of India’s third private train being turned into a mini temple for Lord Shiva, the 82401 Kashi Mahakal Express, just go to show that the Centre has implemented its idea of pilgrimage tourism to the T.

Launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself, the train’s seat 64 has a berth dedicated to the Lord with pictures of him, garlands and a puja thali to offer prayers to the deity. The Kashi Mahakal Express is set to connect the three jyotirlinga shrines in Omkareshwar (near Indore), Mahakaleshwar (Ujjain) and Kashi Vishwanath (Varanasi). The railway authorities are also mulling making the temporary temple a permanent one, apart from offering prayers at the seat on auspicious days and occasions.

News 18 reported Deepak Kumar, a spokesperson for the Northern Railway as saying, “Seat number 64 in coach B5 was reserved and left vacant for the deity. It’s for the first time that a seat has been reserved and left vacant for the deity Lord Shiva. Even a temple has been drawn on the seat to make people aware that the seat is reserved for the Lord Mahakal in Madhya Pradesh’s Ujjain.”

The train is also set to play light devotional music, only serve vegetarian meals and have two dedicated private guards in every coach.

While images of staff praying before the seat where the temple is made are making the rounds, the Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has clarified to news agency ANI that “there is going to be no such reserved or dedicated berth for this purpose in the commercial run of the train”. The IRCTC added, “Staff of the new Kashi Mahakal Express train had temporarily put photos of Shri Mahakaal on an upper berth to do 'pooja' and seek blessings for the success of the new project. It is meant only for the inaugural run as a one-time affair.”

The train is to commence commercial operations on February 20 while Mahashivratri, a festival dedicated to Lord Shiva falls on February 21.

Nonetheless, post the revelation, Twitterati had a field day questioning the Indian Railways of its newest announcement and also drew the ire of a few politicians.

Varanasi: Seat number 64 of coach B5 in Kashi Mahakal Express (Varanasi-Indore) has been turned into a mini-temple of Lord Shiva. The train was flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi via video conferencing yesterday. pic.twitter.com/X5rO4Ftbl6

Though the PM seems to have allowed Lord Shiva to bestow his blessings for the project, will the mini-temple be removed once the train commences operations or will this turn into another attempt to slowly push the Hindutva agenda will have to be seen.

New private train Kashi Mahakal Express has a reserved berth for Lord Shiva

The latest reports of seat no. 64 in Coach B5 of India’s third private train being turned into a mini temple for Lord Shiva, the 82401 Kashi Mahakal Express, just go to show that the Centre has implemented its idea of pilgrimage tourism to the T.

Launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself, the train’s seat 64 has a berth dedicated to the Lord with pictures of him, garlands and a puja thali to offer prayers to the deity. The Kashi Mahakal Express is set to connect the three jyotirlinga shrines in Omkareshwar (near Indore), Mahakaleshwar (Ujjain) and Kashi Vishwanath (Varanasi). The railway authorities are also mulling making the temporary temple a permanent one, apart from offering prayers at the seat on auspicious days and occasions.

News 18 reported Deepak Kumar, a spokesperson for the Northern Railway as saying, “Seat number 64 in coach B5 was reserved and left vacant for the deity. It’s for the first time that a seat has been reserved and left vacant for the deity Lord Shiva. Even a temple has been drawn on the seat to make people aware that the seat is reserved for the Lord Mahakal in Madhya Pradesh’s Ujjain.”

The train is also set to play light devotional music, only serve vegetarian meals and have two dedicated private guards in every coach.

While images of staff praying before the seat where the temple is made are making the rounds, the Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has clarified to news agency ANI that “there is going to be no such reserved or dedicated berth for this purpose in the commercial run of the train”. The IRCTC added, “Staff of the new Kashi Mahakal Express train had temporarily put photos of Shri Mahakaal on an upper berth to do 'pooja' and seek blessings for the success of the new project. It is meant only for the inaugural run as a one-time affair.”

The train is to commence commercial operations on February 20 while Mahashivratri, a festival dedicated to Lord Shiva falls on February 21.

Nonetheless, post the revelation, Twitterati had a field day questioning the Indian Railways of its newest announcement and also drew the ire of a few politicians.

Varanasi: Seat number 64 of coach B5 in Kashi Mahakal Express (Varanasi-Indore) has been turned into a mini-temple of Lord Shiva. The train was flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi via video conferencing yesterday. pic.twitter.com/X5rO4Ftbl6

Though the PM seems to have allowed Lord Shiva to bestow his blessings for the project, will the mini-temple be removed once the train commences operations or will this turn into another attempt to slowly push the Hindutva agenda will have to be seen.

This scathing open letter on face book exposes not just the ill-informed rants of the former minister and BJP Member of Parliament (MP) from Sultanpur, Maneka Gandhi but challenges her and her party to please enact a law not to use elephants (or cranes) in public gatherings, festivals and processions, which the writer says will get all Kerala’s support

This scathing open letter on face book exposes not just the ill-informed rants of the former minister and BJP Member of Parliament (MP) from Sultanpur, Maneka Gandhi but challenges her and her party to please enact a law not to use elephants (or cranes) in public gatherings, festivals and processions, which the writer says will get all Kerala’s support

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In this SabrangIndia exclusive video, Pandit Anindya Banerjee, classical musician Kallol Ghoshal and folk researcher Niladri Sekhar DasSharma talk about the Influence of Islam on Indian Music and how the Sufis, known for their great love for music and acceptance of many indigenous customs, allowed Syncretism to flourish in Bengal.